Underfired coke oven



Sept. 1, 1942. C. OTTO EAL 2,294,419

UNDERFIRED COKE OVEN INVENTORS 74H Orr@ fief/,vs h/frM/ y M ,af/Ew ATTOR N EY Sept. l, 1942. x C, 011-0 TAL 2,294,419l

UNDERFIRED 'COKE OVEN v F'i1ed`Nov. 28. 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYPatented Sept. 1, 1942 UNDERFRED COKE OVEN Carl Otto, New York, N. Y.,and Frans Wethly, Manhasset, N. Y., assignors to Fuel ReliningCorporation, Dover, Del.

Application November 28, 1940,*Serial No. 367,506y

8 Claims.

The general object of the present invention is to provide improved meansfor supplying rich fuel gas to the combustion iiues of an underred cokeoven battery. The term rich fuel gas, as used herein, means a gas which,like ordinary coke oven gas, has a B. t. u. value higher than ordinaryproducer or blast furnace gas, and which is not regeneratively preheatedbefore its passage into the coke oven combustion lues in which it isburned.

Heretofore it has been customary to supply rich fuel gas to thecombustion flues of underred coke oven batteries through horizontaldistribution pipes located in the basement space beneath the masonryincluding the coke oven brickwork and its supporting deck of reinforcedconcrete. Such distribution pipes .extend transversely of the battery,and each supplies gas to a plurality of vertical heating flues in asingle heating wall through corresponding branch pipes, each of whichincludes a regulating device accessible for adjustment from the basementspace.

When gas is supplied through the distribution pipes located in thebasement space of the battery, as described, there is a possibility thatthe gas passing through the pipe will occasionally be cooled to atemperature low enough to effect the condensation of water, naphthalene,and other vapor constituents. The presence of Water of condensation inthe distribution pipes is objectionable, especially if the gas containsHzS as is frequently the case, since the water and HzS initiate chemicalreactions, resulting in the deposit of sulphur, which may eventuallyclog up the distribution pipes and their branch outlets. Cloggingdifficulties result also from solid deposits of condensed naphthaleneand in some cases the condensation occurring in the pipes may result intheir corrosion.

To avoid objectionable condensation in distribution pipes located in thebasement space of underred coke ovens, the gas Vis sometimes preheatedprior to its introduction into the distribution pipes, but suchpreheating requires additional apparatus and involves expense. All riskof such condensation may be avoided by locating the distribution pipesin the reinforced concrete deck which forms the basement space roof andsupports the coke oven brickwork in the manner as disclosed in the vanAckeren Patent 2,205,839, granted August 2, 1939. When the distributionpipes are so incorporated in the deck, the heat transmitted by the cokeoven brickwork to the deck heats the distribution pipes to temperatureshigh enough to preclude condensation in the pipes.

Some objection to the incorporation lof the rich fuel gas distributionpipes in the concrete supporting deck of an underfired coke oven batteryhas been suggested on the ground thatwith such an arrangement, defectsmay develop in the piping embedded in the masonry which may be diicultor practically impossible to correct or eliminate. While we think thatsuch objections have little or no practical justication. the specicobject of the present invention is to devise an arrangement in which therich fuel gas distribution pipes are so located beneath the concretedeck, so as to be accessible for repairs and replacement, but are sodisposed and have their branch outlets 'so disposed las to absorbsufficient heat from the deck to eliminate the risk of objectionablecondensation in the distribution pipes and their branches.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention! arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention,however, its advantages, and specic objects attained with its use,reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptivematter in which we have illustrated and described preferred embodimentsof the invention.

Of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is `a partial transverse section of a coke oven battery, taken onthe line I-I of Fig, 2;

Fig. 2 is a partial longitudinal section of the battery taken on thebroken line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged reproduction of a portion of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7 andS arerviews each taken similarly to Fig. 3, and eachillustrating a different modification of the construction shown in Fig.3. n

In Figs. 1-3, we have illustrated the use of the present invention in ahorizontal underflred regenerative coke oven battery comprising aconcrete layer or deck A, which directly supports the coke ovenbrickwork, and forms the roof of the basement space a. of the battery.The deck A is supported by beams C, which, in the construction shown inFigs. 1-3, ext-end transversely of the battery and are carried bycolumns or posts CA extending upwardly through the basement space a.from the usual battery foundationror mat (not shown).`

VThe coke oven brickwork B comprises a lower story or section, and anupper story or section.

by the combustion of lean gas which requires Y preheating, or by thecombustion of rich gas which does not require preheating, Pairs 'ofregenerators E alternate `with pairs of regenerators e along the lengthof the battery.

The upper story or section of the coke oven brickwork mass B is shown asof well known type comprising horizontally elongated coking chamber F,alternating with heating walls'G, each of the chambers and wallsextending from one side o`f the 'battery to the other. Each heating wallG is formed with vertical ues y and g' alternating with one another in arow extending from one side o'f the `battery vto the other. AEach liluegand an adjacent iiue g are connected at their upper ends andcollectively form a so-called hairpin ue. Each heating wall VG isdirectly above a ycorresponding Aregenerator division wall HD, which maytherefore be aptly called a pillar wall, and beneath each coking chamberF is an rintermediate regenerator division wall d.

Beneath each-ofthe regeneratorsE and e is a correspondinglsole channel Eor e', respectively,

lthrough which vthe Awastefheating gases which flow down through theregenerator, when the latter is serving as an"oi regenerator, pass toone vor both sides of the battery, and thence vthrough Athe usualreversing valves to the waste heat flue system which kforms-no part ofthe presentinven-tion and may'be of the usual type, and .hence need notbe illustrated-.or further described. Each of the regenerators E and Veis connected at its -upper edge by channels E2 or e2 in the V-brickworkto the lower end of one limb, g-or y', of eachof the hairpin iiues ineach of the two heating walls G directly Yabove the twoimmediately-.adjacent rpillar walls D between which the vregeneratorislocated, and each hairpin flue limb is connected by -a channel E2 totheref generator E at one side of thezsubjacent pillar wall D, and isconnected to the regenerator e at .the other side of said ...pillar wallby a second channel e2. The combustible agent, air or lean gas,pre-heated :in each of lthe regenerators E and e, may be supplied to-the regenerator in which it is pre-heated through the correspondingsole channel E or e, or,.as shown, through a corresponding distributionpipe H or h, each of .said pipes being embedded in theconcretedayer A,and'being formed with a multiplicity Yof -outlets distributed along thelength of its-top wall. The now-through each-of said outlets may beregulated by the sizezofV the measuring orifice or :nozzle .passage in anozzle .member H"threaded into or --otherwise .replaceably mounted inthe -outlet opening. Each nozzleH discharges into 4a, correspondinguprising Vpassage Aiormed in Athe layer A and communicating at itsVupper end flues g and g through channels J and JA leading upwardthrough the deck A and intermediate regenerator division walls d. Asshown, there are a set of channels J and a set of channels JA in eachwall d. The channels J in each wall d correspond in number to and areconnected to one set of hairpin ue limbs g or g in one adjacent heatingwall, and alternate along the `length of the wall with the channels JAin that wall, said'channels JA being connected to the hairpin ilue limbsg or g' in the other heating wall adjacent the wall D. The varioushairpin ues in each heating wall thus have the lower ends of their limbg connected to uprising chan- -nels J or JA in the adjacent regeneratordivision wall d at one side of the heating wall, and have their limbs-g' connected to uprising channels J or JA in the adjacent regeneratordivision wall d at the opposite side of the heating wall. The lowerportions of the channels J and JA are vertical and centrally disposed inthe corresponding division wall d, but the upper portions of thechannels J curve away from that wall toward the other of the twoadjacent heating Walls.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1-3, each of the channels Jand JA has its lower portion lined by a tubular metallic part JBincorporated in the lower portion of the deck layer A, and having alateral gasinlet within the deck layer and having its lower endextending downward into the basement space and normally closed by a capor plug member JB', which can be removed to permit the channel to beinspected or cleaned, or temporarily Villed by liquid cement to closeleaky walls, joints, or cracks. Each of the .channels J and rJA in asingle regenerator division wall d may simultaneously receive rich 'fuelgas through its lateral gas inlet andan individual branch from ahorizontal distribution pipe HA located in the upper portion of thebasement space a, adjacent, but slightly to one side of thecorresponding row of caps JB.

As shown, each of said distribution pipe branches comprises a verticalnipple h having itsupper Aend screwed into the vertical lower end of anelbow h2 and having its enlarged lower end screwed into a threadedoutlet opening formed in the pipe HA at its upper side. The horizontalupper end of the elbow h2 is connected by a 'horizontal nipple h3, tothe metallic part JB in the corresponding channel J or JA. The nippleh3, elbow h2 and the upper portion of the nipple h' 'are all locatedwithin the deck layer A. As shown, however, the nipple h. can be rotatedto disconnect it from and reconnect it to the pipe HA and to thecorresponding elbow h2, by a suitable Wrench or'other implementextending into and across the pipe HA through an opening in the bottomwall of the pipe-normally closed by a plug h4, and large enough topermit the passage of the nipple h. v.The rate of fuel gas now througheach branch pipe connection, is regulated in the construction shown inFig. 3, by

Vthe size of the orifice in an externally threaded orice K screwed intoan internally -threaded Vseat portion of the nipple h. Each orice membervK can be removed. and replaced by another having an orice of differentflow capacity by a suitable tool extending across the pipe HA, and intoengagement with the member K, through the bottom wall opening in thepipe HA normally closed by the corresponding plug h4.

As shown, the` lower half of the Ipipe HA is `within a trough-shapedbody Q of lheat insulating material supported from the pipe, the sidesof the body Q being spaced away from the adjacent portions of the pipeHA to provide a heat insulating dead air space. With the pipe HAsupported within a few inches of the underside of the deck and with themember Q minimizing the heat losses -from the underside oi the pipe, thelatter will be maintained at a temperature high enough to precludecondensation therein even under extreme climatic conditions. Moreover,as is clearly shown in Fig.l 3, each orifice member K is within the deckA, so that under all `conditions it wil-l be maintained at a temperatureappreciably higher than the temperature of the pipe. The resultantadditional security against condensation in the orice members isdesirable because of the small orice diameters of such members, and thefact that only a very slight clogging of an orifice by condensedmaterial may objectionably reduce the fuel supplied through that oriiiceeffect the fuel distribution.

The arrangement shown lpermits the pipe HA to be located adjacent theceiling of the basement space so that it offers little interference tomovements of attendants through said space while at the same time thepipe is readily accessible for repairs or replacement.

The general advantages of the present invention can be obtained withdifferent constructions and arrangements, some of which are shown inFigs. 4-8 inclusive.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 4, the branch pipe connectionbetween each tubular metallic part JB and the corresponding pipe -Hcomprises a -bent pipe h having a lower vertical portion connected by 'aunion h.6 to a tubular outlet branch h,7 of the pipe HA. The horizontalupper end portion of the pipe h5 is connected to the nipple h3 metallicpart JB, through a vertically disposed tubular member L. The latter isincorporated in the deck layer A, and is provided with an internallythreaded seat for a removable oriiice member K, which when screwed insaid seat, is located above the level of the pipe h5, and below thelevel of the nipple h3. The oriiice member K of Fig. 4 is accessible forcleaning and replacement through the lower end off the member L,

on the removal of the Iplug L' normally closing said end. As shown, theplug L is formed with a recess or seat L2 for the lower end of a wire orrod M, which may extend upward through the orice in the member K, toreduce the flow capacity of the latter by 'a small amount. Great- 'U erchanges in the orice flow capacity may be effected by replacement of theorifice member K in use, by one of different now capacity.

The modied form of our invention shown in Fig. 5 differs from that shownin Fig. 4 by the replacement of the member L incorporated in the layer Aby the body or casing N of a reversing cock or valve. As shown, the bodyN is formed with a vertical tapered valve .chamber N' and horizontalports N2 and N3 at its opposite sides, respectively Icorn-municatingwith the bent pipe h5 and with the nipple h3. A frusto-conical plugvalve n, iittinlg in the valve chamber N', is formed with a horizontalthrough ypassage n', receiving a replaceable orifice member n2, and isadapted to establish or out off communication between the ports N2 andN3, accordingly as the -plug valve is turned into one or another angularposition in the lchamber N. The valve n has a stem n3 extending axiallydownward from its and thereby to the :corresponding s Cil lower end. Ahorizontal operating lever n4 is secured to the stem n3, which may beconnected to the usual automatic reversing mechanism employed toperiodically reverse the direction of glas flow through the flues andreegenerators of a regenerative coke oven. As shown, the valve n isremovably secured in place in the valve body N by a clamping member or ahead N4 connected to the valve body by stud bolts N5, and engaging thelower end of the valve.

As shown, decarbonizing air may be supplied to the tubular member JB ofFig. 5, through the Corresponding valve n when the latter is turned intothe angular position in which it closes communication between the portsN2 and N3. In that position, an air passage extending axially throughthe valve stern portion n3 has its laterally extending upper end inregister with the .port N3. When the valve n is turned to .bring theends of its passage n into register with ports Nz and N3, the upper endof the pass-age 11.5 is closed. by the conical wall of the valve4chamber N. The `lower end of the air passage 115 is open to theatmosphere :at all times.

In the normal operation of an ordinary underred coke oven battery, it isdesirable and customary to .pass decarbonizing air into the verticaloven fuel gas channels, such as the channels J and JA, duringapproximately one half the time, i. e., during each orf the regeneratorreversal periods in which yfuel gas is not being supplied to saidchannels. With the arrangement shown in Fig. 5, the decarbonizing airsupplied to the channels J yand JA does not .pass through thedistribution .pipe HA from which the channels are supplied with richfuel gas during alternate reversal periods. The arrangement shown inFig. 5 thus avoids the risk of the objectionable sulphur deposits in thedistribution pipes which exist when those pipes are used to alternatelysupply fuel gas and decarbonizing air to the vertical channels. This isdue to the fact that ordinarily, the chemical reactions which result inthe deposit of sulphur in the distribution pipes, require the presence,although not necessarily the simultaneous presence, in the distributionpipe, of oxygen, water and a gas having a sulphur content.

In the form of our invention shown in Fig. 6, each channel J, and JA,receives rich fuel gas through a pipe O extending vertically through thedeck layer A and connected at its lower end to a T, or cross shapediitting P, having one channel branch connected by a horizontal nipple hmto the corresponding distribution pipe HA, and having an alignedhorizontal opening closed by a plug H" which can be removed to permitreplacement of the orice member KA, which is screwed into the horizontalbranch to which the nipple h1@ is connected. A plug P normally closesthe end of the tting P beneath and in register with the pipe O, but maybe removed to open the channel J for inspection or cleaning and repairpurposes.

To permit the deck layer A and superposed portion of the batterystructure to be supported by beams R running longitudinally of thebattery, as disclosed and claimed in the prior patent application,Serial No. 314,760, led January 20, 1940, by Carl Otto, one of theapplicants herein, the pipe HA shown in Fig. 6 is located within arecess A10 formed in the underside of the deck layer A, beneath thecorresponding regenerator division wall d. To increase the temperatureto which the pipe HA and orifice members KA are `,pivoted detent Q2releasably connecting the opposite side of the Wall to the deck layer A.

In the form of our invention shown in Fig. '7, the distribution pipesI-IA which supply rich fuel gas to the uprising channels in theregenerator .division walls d, are above the longitudinal decksupporting beams R, each pipe HA being received in a recess in decklayer A, as in the construction shown in Fig. 6. In the Fig. 7arrangerment, however, the insulating walls Q are omitted and the branchpipe connections from the pipes HA fare like those shown in Fig. 3, eachincluding an orifice member K located in the portion of the nipple h'which iswithin the deck layer A and receives heat directly therefrom byconduction.

When the battery is supported by longitudinal beams R, as shown in Figs.6, 'Land 8, the reinforcing eiTect on the deck concrete layer A of thetransversely extending distribution pipes H and h incorporated in saidlayer, may be supplemented, when necessary, by the effect of otherreinforcing means incorporated in the layer A,

such, for example, as the I-beams S shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8, andwhich may extend from oneside of the battery to the other.

If, for any reason, it is undesirable to locate the distribution pipesHA above the deck supporting beams R extending longitudinally of thebattery, as theyv are located in the constructions shown in Figs. 6 and'7, the distribution pipes may be'located beneath the beams Q, or eachof those pipes may extend through corresponding openings' formed in thecentral portion of each beam, as shown in Fig. '8.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes, we haveillustrated and described the best form of embodiment of the inventionnow known to us, it Will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in the form of the apparatus disclosed withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims and vthat in some lcases certain features of the invention may be-used to advantage without a corresponding use of other features.

`Having now described our invention, what We -claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An underred regenerative coke oven battery comprising a mass ofmasonry above a basefment space, regenerator division Walls in the lowerportion of said mass, oven heating Walls 1ocated in the upper portion ofsaid mass and formed with combustion flues, uprising rich fuel gassupply channels formed in said division walls and connected at theirupper ends to said flues, rich fuel gas distribution pipes beneath saidmass and conduit connections between each of said pipes and a pluralityof said channels each of which comprises a restricted orice portionwhich is in position to absorb heat from said mass and is surrounded byheat insulating material.

2. A coke oven battery as specified in claim 1, in which the restrictedorice portion of each of said connections is embedded in and insulatedby said masonry mass. Y

3. A coke oven battery as specied inclaim 1, in which each conduitconnection includes a lower vertical portion and an upper horizontalportion both imbedded in said masonry massrand in which an orificemember is removably securedV in said vertical portion.

4. A coke oven battery as specified in claim 1, in which each conduitconnection includes a portion Which is embedded in said masonry mass andincludes a restricted orifice and a reversing valve.

5. A coke oven battery as specified in claim 1, in which each conduitconnection includes a portion embedded in said masonry mass andincluding a restricted orifice and a reversing valve, and in Which saidreversing-valve is provided with a decarbonizing air inlet.

6. A coke oven as specified in claim l, in which said masonry mass issupported on beams-extending longitudinally of the battery and in whichsaid mass is formed with recesses in its under side extendingtransversely of the battery and in which said distribution pipes arelocated above said beams and in said recesses.`

7. A coke oven battery as specified in claim .1, in which said masonrymass is supported on beams extending longitudinally of the battery andin Which said mass is formed with recesses in its under side extendingtransversely of the battery, and in which said distribution pipes arelocated above said beams and in said recesses, and v in which heatinsulating material is located beneath said distribution pipes.

l8. A coke oven battery as specied in claim -1, in which each of theuprising rich fuel gas supply channels is provided at its lower end witha closure accessible for removal from beneath said masonry mass, and inwhich each of said conduit connections includes a portion embedded insaid masonry and opening to the corresponding supply channel at a levelabove the closure therefor.

CARL OTTO. FRANS WETHLY.

